V.     ,      -  ><  -^,  ,  1\^'  1^ 


AN    ORATION 


COMMEMORATIVE  OF 


Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  Senior, 
Deceased, 

Born  on  the  28th  of  September,  1717, 

AND  WHICH 

Was  Delivered  on  the  28th  Day  of  September,  1829, 

At  his  Late  Residence  in  the  County  of  Warren 
North  Carolina, 

BY 

JOHN  D.  HAWKINS,  Esq. 


RALEIGH  : 

Printed  by  Lawrence  &  Lemay 

Printers  to  the  State 

1829. 


Reprinted  at  Raleigh  : 

Presses  of  Weaver  &  Houseman, 

1906. 


FOKEWOKD  TO  SECON'D  EDITION. 

This  address  was  delivered  by  mv  late  father,  Colonel 
John  D.  Hawkins,  in  1829,  and  was  first  published  in  that 
year.  Very  few  copies  of  the  original  pamphlet  are  now 
kno"\vn  to  be  in  existence.  Believing  that  its  re-publication 
will  be  of  interest  to  the  numerous  descendants  of  its  subject, 
Colonel  Philemon  Hawkins,  St.,  I  have  decided  to  issue  this 
second  edition  for  private  circulation. 

A.  B.  Hawkins,  M.  D. 

Raleigh,  K  C,  February  22,  1906.  ■ 


AN  OEATION. 

Colonel  Philemon  Hawkins,  of  Pleasant  Hill,  Warren  county,  North 
Caroiina,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age,  having  for  many 
years  entertained  the  desire  to  call  together  his  descendants  and  con- 
nexions, as  we'l  as  those  of  his  late  father,  Ool.  Philemon  Hawkins, 
senior,  deceased,  at  his  late  residence  in  Warren  county,  with  the 
view,  thus  assembled,  to  unite  in  bearing  testimony  to  his  worth  and 
to  his  memory,  and  to  cement  together  more  closely  the  whole  family 
union,  did,  on  the  2Sth  day  of  September,  1829,  thus  assemble  them, 
as  well  as  health  and  ciicumstanoes  permitted;  and  he  invited 
many  respectable  friends  to  associate  upon  the  occasion,  having  pre- 
viously caused  the  old  family  Mansitm  House  of  the  deceased  to  be 
fitted  up.  When  thus  assembled,  he  called  upon  his  grandson, 
Leonidas  Polk,  and  great  grandson  of  the  deceased,  to  offer  up  to  the 
Throne  of  Grace  a  prayer  upon  the  occasion,  who  delivered  an  ele- 
gant and  a  very  appropriate  prayer.  And  he  called  upon  his  son, 
John  D.  Hawkins,  and  grandson  of  the  deceased,  to  deliver  an  oration 
commemorative  of  his  history,  and  his  virtue;  when  he  delivered 
the  following: 

My  relatives  and  respected  hearer's: 

I  am  called  upon  by  Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  now  the 
elder,  to  fulfil  a  trust,  which  his  great  desire  to  greet  his  rela- 
tives and  friends,  intiuenced  at  the  same  time  by  the  most 
profound  filial  veneration,  has  induced  him  to  impose.  It  is 
for  me  to  attempt  on  this  day  to  do  justice  to  the  character 
and  memory  of  Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  senior,  deceased. 
The  task  is  a  novel  one,  and  the  theme  requires  abler  efforts 
than,  I  fear,  I  can  bring  to  the  discharge  of  it.  It  is  there- 
fore with  gTeat  distrust  I  attempt  to  approach  it.  An  assem- 
blage of  this  sort,  and  upon  such  an  occasion,  is  not  only  new, 
but  unprecedented  in  our  section  of  country.  But,  notwith- 
standing its  novelty,  what  can  be  more  justifiable,  or  more 
interesting  than  to  witness  a  large  assemblage  of  relatives  and 
friends,  called,  together  by  the  venerable  head  of  his  family 
association,  to  pay  homage  to  the  great  worth  of  a  departed 
ancestor,  who,  when  living,  stood  pre-eminently  at  its  head? 
It  is  an  effort,  although  a  feeble  one,  to  arrest  from  oblivion 


the  recollection  of  one,  whose  memory  is  fast  fading  away, 
and  ere  long  will  be  forgotten,  because  all  who  knew  him  will 
soon  have  passed  by  and  be  forgotten  also. 

To  hold  up  to  view  the  successful  enterprise,  the  patriotism 
and  the  virtues  of  the  departed  dead,  is  the  province  of  biog- 
raphy, which  acts  as  a  mirror  to  reflect  upon  the  living,  ex- 
amples of  wisdom  and  of  worth,  from  whence  may  be  derived 
the  most  salutary  lessons.  If  biography  in  general  produces 
these  conceded  results,  its  benign  influence  will  operate  in  an 
increased  ratio  upon  relatives,  when  contemplating  the  en- 
viable character  of  a  departed  and  beloved  ancestor. 

Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  senior,  deceased,  was  born  on  the 
28th  of  September,  1717,  on  Chickahominy  river,  near  Todd's 
bridge  in  Charles  City  county  and  State  of  Virginia,  this 
day  112  years  ago.  He  was  the  oldest  child  of  his  parents, 
Philemon  and  Ann,  and  his  father  died  when  he  was  of 
tender  years,  leaving  three  children,  Philemon,  John  and 
Ann.  Although  Philemon  the  elder  died,  leaving  to  his 
children  a  scanty  patrimony,  he  seemed,  to  have  entertained 
peculiar  notions  of  predilection  in  regard  to  them.  He  felt 
towards  them  an  unsual  confidence ;  for,  by  his  will,  he  de- 
sired that  they  should  come  to  the  control  of  their  patrimony 
at  the  age  of  18  years;  and  this  confidence,  as  regarded  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  was  not  misplaced. 

The  widowed  mother  Ann  afterwards  intermarried  with 
a  native  of  Ireland ;  and  by  the  time  her  son  Philemon  had 
reached  the  appointed  age  of  18,  his  celebrity  for  industry 
and  manly  deportment  excelled  all  his  associates,  even  those 
of  riper  years,  and  was  of  extensive  circulation,  a  sure  prog- 
nostic that  he  would  rise  above  his  then  condition.  Col. 
Lightfoot,  of  Williamsburg,  a  gentleman  of  great  wealth  and 
discernment,  had  three  plantations  in  Charles  City  county 
and  the  fame  of  our  then  youthful  ancestor  had  reached  him 
though  he  lived  60  miles  distant,  and  had  deeply  impressed 
him  with  a  desire  to  place  these  three  estates  under  his 
youthful  control.     He  sent  for  him  to  come  to  Williamsburg, 


and  on  getting  there,  thej  made  a  contract,  the  stipulations 
of  which  showed  at  once  the  confidence  of  the  employer  and 
the  gTeat  reputation  for  good  management  and  great  ability 
in  the  employed.  But  his  mother  was  unhappily  married. 
It  was  her  misfortune  not  to  find  in  her  husband  that  con- 
jugal tenderness,  affection  and  forbearance,  which  the  wedded 
estate  should  assure  to  those  who  enter  into  it.  The  ill 
treatment  of  her  husband  had  rendered  the  protection  of  her 
son  Philemon  necessary  to  her  safety.  And  her  husband's 
embarrassments  and  difiiculties  had  fixed  in  him  a  deter- 
mined resolution  to  remove  to  North  Carolina.  This  was  a 
trying  time  for  the  mother.  To  accompany  her  husband  she 
was  compelled  to  do ;  but  to  leave  her  son  would  bereave  her 
of  that  protection  which  had  not  only  stayed  the  arm  of 
cruelty,  but  was  further  necessary  to  aid  her  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  and  to  dispel  the  sad  gloom  of  a  cheerless  fire- 
side. She  entreated  her  son  to  accompany  her,  and  he 
pleaded  his  engagement,  and  the  necessity  he  was  under  hon- 
orably to  fulfil  it.  Under  these  distressing  and  conflicting 
embarrassments,  the  unhappy  mother  repaired  to  Williams- 
burg to  entreat  Col.  Lightfoot  to  let  her  son  off  from  his 
bargain,  that  he  might  accompany  her  to  ISTorth  Carolina. 
When  she  named  the  subject  to  him,  he  peremptorily  refused 
to  let  him  off,  saying,  although  he  was  but  a  boy,  he  had  long- 
desired  his  services  and  the  pay  he  was  to  give  him  was 
ample;  and  that  he  should  not  only  injure  himself,  but  her 
son,  by  letting  him  off  from  the  contract.  With  this  morti- 
fying and  most  distressing  rebuff  the  distracted  mother 
retired  to  a  neighboring  place  to  spend  the  night,  having 
been  unwilling  to  expose  to  Col.  Lightfoot' s  views  the  secret 
motives  which  so  much  prompted  her  to  desire  the  company 
of  her  son.  There  melancholy,  with  all  its  occompaniments 
of  distress,  harrowed  up  her  soul,  and  she  resolved  to  try  Col. 
Lightfoot  once  more,  though  mortifying,  to  tell  him  the  cause 
of  her  importunities.  She  gained  his  presence  the  next 
morning,  and  found  upon  his  brow  that  peculiar  look,  which 


indicated  imwillingness  to  hear  any  more  from  her  upon  the 
subject  of  her  errand.  But  she  entreated  him  to  listen  to  her 
motives,  and  unfolded  to  him  her  situation;  that  although 
her  son  was  but  a  boy,  he  was  her  gallant  protector  and  de- 
fender. This  changed  the  scene.  Col.  Lightfoot,  as  a  man 
of  chivalry,  could  not  permit  his  interest  to  weigh  against  a 
woman's  safety  and  a  mother's  safety  too,  when  that  was  to 
be  secured  by  the  presence  of  her  son.  He  instantly  said,  "Go 
madam,  and  take  your  son.  His  great  worth  had  caused  me 
to  desire  much  his  management  of  my  business ;  but  your 
need  is  entitled  to  the  preference;  and  those  rare  qualities 
and  powers,  which  he  possesses,  and  which  had  gained  him 
my  confidence  and  esteem,  will  ensure  your  protection." 

■  Philemon,  together  with  his  brother  John  and  his  sister 
Ann,  accompanied  his  mother  and  her  husband  to  North 
Carolina,  and  they  settled  upon  Six  Pound  creek,  then  Edge- 
combe, now  Warren  county.  Nearly  the  whole  country  was 
then  a  wilderness  inhabited  by  Indians  and  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  forest.  This  country  was  then  called  a  frontier,  where 
civilization  had  shed  abroad  but  little  of  its  influence,  and 
where  the  first  settlers  had  to  share,  in  a  great  degree,  the 
privations  which  attended  the  first  settlers  of  these  United 
States.  Persecution  conduced  to  the  first  settlements  of 
America,  and  that  though  of  a  different  sort,  fixed  the  destiny 
of  this  branch  of  the  Hawkins  family  in  this  country. 

There  were  other  branches  from  the  Charles  City  stock, 
which  migrated  to  other  parts  of  the  Union ;  one  went  to  the 
State  of  Kentucky,  which  produced  Joseph  Hawkins  formerly 
a  member  of  Congress  from  Kentucky,  and  who  afterwards 
died  in  New  Orleans.  That  gentleman  traced  his  connexion 
with  our  family  in  a  conversation  with  our  distinguished  and 
venerable  fellow  citizen  Nathaniel  Macon,  Esq.,  who  now 
contributes  by  his  presence  to  commemorate  this  occasion,"  and 
this  day. 

This  branch  of  the  family  came  here  headed  by  Philemon, 
who  was  but  a  youth  a  little  turned  18  years  of  age,  poor  in 


purse,  but  rich  in  spirit.  By  the  sweat  of  his  brow  he  sus- 
tained his  mother,  his  sister  and  his  brother  with  all  the 
comforts  tlieir  wants  required.  He  cheered  the  drooping 
spirits  of  his  mother,  and,  by  every  effort  in  his  power,  con- 
tributed to  her  wants  and  her  wishes.  His  filial  affection  is 
recounted  the  more  willingly,  because  it  is  a  virtue  he  not 
only  practiced,  but  because  his  course  was  such  as  to  inspire 
his  descendants  with  his  kindred  spirit;  and  it  is  that  spirit 
which  gave  rise  to  this  assemblage,  and  it  is  one  of  the  mani- 
fold evidences  of  its  analogy  to  the  parental  stock  which  gave 
it  birth.  May  its  influence  descend  to  the  remotest  family 
generation  in  parallel  with  this  laudable  example ! 

In  the  year  1743,  he  intermarried  with  Delia  Martin,  the 
daughter  of  Zachariah  Martin,  Esq.,  who  lived  in  an  upper 
county  of  Virginia.  But  she  lived  with  her  brother,  Capt. 
John  Martin,  on  Sandy  Creek,  then  Edgecombe,  now  Frank- 
lin county.  They  were  married  in  Virginia  at  a  church  in 
the  county  of  Brunswick,  by  Parson  Betty.  By  her  he  had 
Fannie,  who  intermarried  with  Maj.  Leonard  Bullock,  Col. 
John"  Hawkins,  Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  Col.  Benjamin 
Hawkins,  late  Superintendent  of  Indian  affairs.  Col.  Joseph 
Hawkins  of  the  Continental  army,  and  Ann,  who  intermarried 
with  Micajah  Thomas,  Esq.  All  of  whom  have  long  since 
passed  to  the  tomb,  except  our  venerable  host  Col.  Philemon 
Hawkins  who  is  also  the  only  survivor  of  the  signers  of  the 
Constitution  of  I^orth  Carolina  ratified  in  the  year  1776 ; 
and  whose  laudable  desire  to  see  altogether  the  descendants 
of  his  worthy  father,  as  well  as  his  collateral  kindred,  has 
invited  us  here  this  day  that  his  history  may  be  told  over,  to 
excite  us  to  inculcate  his  virtues,  and  to  profit  by  his  exam- 
ples, at  the  same  time  we  attempt  to  do  honor  to  his  memory. 

Our  worthy  ancestors  lived  at  the  mouth  of  Six  Pound 
creek  on  Eoanoke  river,  about  ten  years.  They  then  removed 
to  this  tract  of  land,  and  not  many  years  afterwards  to  this 
'place,  which  was  then  in  the  county  of  Edgecombe.  The  prov- 
ince of  jSTorth  Carolina  was  divided  at  an  early  period  of  our 


8 


history  as  suited  the  then  Lords  Proprietors,  and  their  gov- 
ernment, into  eight  precincts,  as  they  were  called,  to-wit: 
Beaufort,  Carteret,  Chowan,  Craven,  Currituck,  Hyde,  Per- 
quimons  and  Pasquotank,  to  which  Bertie  precinct  was  after- 
wards added,  by  a  division  of  Chowan.  These  precincts  em- 
braced the  whole  province  and  were  afterwards  called  coun- 
ties, and  were  divided  and  sub-divided  and  other  counties 
erected  as  the  population  extended  and  the  reasons  and  neces- 
sities of  the  province  developed  themselves.  The  first  settle- 
ments were  made  upon  the  seashore  and  they  extended  west- 
wardly,  as  they  increased.  The  metes  and  bounds  of  these 
counties  or  precincts  were  but  little  known,  and,  owing  to  the 
savage  inhabitants  of  the  country,  their  geography  could  not 
be  better  ascertained  at  that  time.  Legislative  acts  were  fre- 
quently resorted  to,  to  settle  occurring  disputes  about  boundary 
and  to  form  new  counties,  where  the  interests  of  the  inhabi- 
tants required  them.  This  section  of  country,  as  well  as  I  can 
now  ascertain  it,  was  comprehended  within  Beaufort  precinct, 
and  Edgecombe  county  spread  largely  within  its  limits.  Prom 
Edgecombe  the  county  of  Granville  was  taken  in  the  year 
1758,  and  the  dividing  line  began  at  the  mouth  of  Stone 
House  creek,  on  Roanoke  river.  Thence  to  the  mouth  of 
Cypress  swamp,  on  Tar  river  and  from  thence  across  the 
river  in  a  direct  course  to  the  middle  ground  between  Tar 
river  and  J^euse  river,  being  the  dividing  line  between  Edge- 
combe and  Craven  counties.  The  uncertainty  of  this  latter 
line  now  forms  the  subject  matter  of  an  unsettled  dispute  as 
to  boundary  between  the  counties  of  Wake  and  Franklin. 
In  1764,  the  county  of  Bute  was  taken  from  the  county  of 
Granville ;  and  in  1779  the  county  of  Bute  was  divided  into 
the  counties  of  Warren  and  Franklin. 

I  have  been  thus  circumstantial  in  the  detail  of  the  change 
and  formation  of  counties,  because  our  ancestor  figured  in 
many  of  them,  living  the  greater  part  of  the  time  at  the  same 
place.  In  the  year  1757  he  was  elected  High  Sheriff  of  Gran- 
ville county,  which  then  consisted  of  what  Granville  now  is. 


9 


added  to  all  Franklin,  and  all  that  part  of  Warren  lying  to 
the  south  of  Koanoke  river.  In  this  extensive  country,  where 
civilization  was  far  from  being  complete,  and  where  the  arm 
of  the  law  was  weakened  by  an  habitual  insubordination, 
gTeat  energy  of  mind  as  well  as  personal  bravery  was  required 
to  perform  the  duties  of  sheriff.  These  qualities  he  possessed 
in  an  eminent  degree ;  and  when  his  deputies  were  overpow- 
ered, as  was  sometimes  the  case,  by  those  who  threw  off  the 
restraints  of  the  law,  he  repaired  at  once  to  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion, and,  even  when  threatened  to  be  mobbed  would  person- 
ally attack  the  leader,  having  the  address  at  the  same  time 
to  win  over  his  followers  to  a  more  correct  course.  This  once 
occurred  in  the  Little  river  settlement  now  in  the  county  of 
Franklin,  where  one  Bud  Kade  headed  a  mob  to  avoid  pay- 
ing taxes.  And  in  the  year  1759  when  Robin  Jones  was 
considered  the  most  eminent  lawyer  in  this  country,  many  of 
the  suitors  in  Granville  court,  whose  misfortune  it  was  not  to 
get  him  on  their  side,  lost  their  causes,  as  they  supposed,  by 
his  superior  knowledge,  and  they  fixed  the  determination  t: 
drive  him  by  violence  from  the  court.  A  threat  to  this  effect, 
it  was  hoped,  would  deter  him  from  attending  the  court ;  but 
Mr.  Jones  was  not  thus  to  be  alarmed.  He  felt  that  he  was 
shielded  by  his  duty  to  his  clients  and  the  laws  of  the  country ; 
and  that  if  the  deputies  could  not  enforce  subordination,  he 
relied  upon  the  High  Sheriff.  To  that  end,  he  privately  ad- 
vised the  High  Sheriff  of  the  machinations  planning,  and  so- 
licited his  personal  attention  early  at  court,  prepared  for 
events,  and  to  keep  order.  Accordingly  the  High  Sheriff  at- 
tended court  at  an  early  hour,  armed  to  meet  any  occurrence. 
Robin  Jones  informed  the  court  of  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened him,  urging  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  an  ofiicer  of  the 
court,  and  entitled  to  its  protection.  The  court  ordered  the 
sheriff  to  keep  out  of  the  court  house  all  persons  disposed  to 
produce  a  riot.  Thus  protected  by  the  constituted  authorities, 
and  firmly  supported  by  his  own  inclination,  he  met  at  the 
court  house  door  the  ring  leaders,  and  some  of  them  were  bold 


10 


and  conspicuous  characters ;  for  among  them  was  Col.  Benton, 
the  grandfather  of  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  the  present  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri,  who  felt  himself  aggTieved  and  justified 
in  the  course  he  took.  The  threatening  rioters  assembled  at 
the  court  house  door,  armed  and  made  a  show  to  enter;  but 
were  prevented  by  the  determined  spirit  of  the  High  Sheriff 
whose  look,  with  arms  in  his  hands,  was  too  convincing  that 
the  entrance  would  be  too  costly ;  and,  therefore,  they  de- 
sisted from  their  purpose  and  dispersed. 

The  construction  of  the  government  which  existed  at  this 
period  of  our  history  was  one  of  such  discordance  between  the 
governors  and  the  governed,  that  that  moral  force  which  is 
essential  to  its  well  being,  and  to  the  cementing  together  of 
all  its  parts,  did  not  exist.  The  idea  of  subjection  to  a  for- 
eign yoke,  of  a  tributary  obligation,  even  of  the  mildest  form, 
is  repugnant  to  the  choice ;  and  although  the  idea  might  not 
at  that  time  have  been  entertained  to  throw  it  off,  yet  a  rest- 
lessness and  a  dissatisfaction  prevailed  and  a  slight  matter 
was  calculated  to  produce  a  popular  ferment.  We  can  trace 
this  jealous  discontented  spirit  through  our  history  for  a  long 
time  before  it  broke  out  in  the  Revolution  which  cured  us  of 
that  grievous  disquietude.  It  was  that  disquietude,  but  more 
systematically  kept  up,  which  had  increased  to  an  unprece- 
dented height,  and  caused  the  Regulators  to  assemble  in  the 
year  1771  and  which  ended  in  the  battle  of  the  Alemance  on 
the  16th  day  of  May  of  that  year.  Gov.  Tryon,  the  then 
Governor  of  the  colony  of  North  Carolina,  resided  at  jSTew 
Bern  and  finding  that  the  Regulators  were  trampling  down 
everything  like  government,  and,  if  not  resisted,  would  throw 
the  whole  country  into  anarchy  and  misrule,  and  being  by 
education  a  military  man,  and  of  great  personal  bravery,  he 
resolved  to  march  against  them,  and  called  to  his  assistance 
a  considerable  military  force.  He  at  the  same  time  called  to 
his  assistance  as  many  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  the 
colony  as  he  could,  thereby  calculating  to  add  to  his  military 
the  moral  force  of  the  country.     His  assemblage  on  this  occa- 


11 


sion  was  large.  It  contained  many  of  the  first  characters  of 
the  colony  and  it  had,  as  was  expected,  the  calculated  impos- 
ing effect.  The  number  on  the  side  of  the  Regulators  was  the 
largest ;  but  they  lacked  discipline  or  unity  of  action.  Upon 
this  occasion  his  Excellency  selected  our  venerated  ancestor 
as  his  chief  Aid-de-Camp  and  assigned  to  him  the  hazardous 
duty  to  read  to  the  Regulators  his  Proclamation,  which  he 
did  promptly.  And  after  the  battle  commenced,  he  was  the 
bearer  of  the  Governor's  commands  throughout  the  whole 
action.  This  so  exposed  him  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  that 
his  hat  was  pierced  by  two  balls,  various  balls  passed  through 
his  clothes,  and  one  bullet  and  two  buck  shot  lodged  in  the 
breach  of  his  gun,  which  he  carried  and  used  during  the 
action.  But  he  had  the  good  fortune  not  to  be  wounded. 
After  the  battle  was  over,  he  was  complimented  by  the  Gov- 
ernor for  the  very  efficient  aid  he  gave  him,  and  for  the  brav- 
ery and  ability  he  displayed  during  the  engagement. 

This  spirit  of  dissatisfaction,  which  had  so  often  mani- 
fested itself,  although  apparently  quieted  for  the  time,  con- 
tinued to  increase  until  it  burst  in  open  opposition  to  the 
British  Government,  about  four  years  after  the  battle  of 
Alemance,  and  terminated  in  the  establishment  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that 
during  this  arduous  struggle  for  our  independence,  those  who 
had  been  found,  during  minor  conflicts,  arrayed  against  the 
government  and  laws,  were  never  found  acting  conspicuously 
in  support  of  it.  On  the  contrary,  many  of  them  were  tories ; 
and  those  who  fought  bravely  under  the  banners  of  George 
III,  against  the  Regulators,  were,  during  that  great  struggle, 
the  true  whigs  of  the  country.  The  reason  for  this  difference 
seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  circumstance  that  many  of  the 
Regulators  were  enemies  to  good  order  and  to  government 
generally,  and  for  these  causes  were  unwilling  to  unite  in  any 
systematic  efforts  to  shake  off  the  British  yoke. 

During  this  great  struggle  for  American  liberty,  our  an- 
cestor being  three  score  years  old,  did  not  render  himsjelf 


12 


conspicuous  in  a  military  point  of  view,  except  by  pushing 
forward  his  sons  in  aid  of  the  good  cause,  by  supplying  them 
with  all  the  money  and  other  means  which  they  required  for 
that  purpose.  But  he  was  offered  the  command  of  a  Briga- 
dier General,  which  he  declined,  preferring  to  act  in  a  civil 
capacity.  Although  he  was  thus  old,  he  had  the  industry, 
activity  and  enterprise  of  a  younger  man,  and  preferred  that 
his  sons  should  go  forth  in  personal  defence  of  the  country, 
while  he  stayed  at  home  and  made  and  supplied  them  with 
the  necessary  funds;  and  this  he  did  largely,  as  occasions 
required  them,  feeling  and  acting  for  the  good  cause  more 
efficiently  than  he  could  have  done  in  the  field.  But  after 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1776,  and  upon  the  elec- 
tion of  Richard  Caswell,  who  M'as  the  first  Governor  of  the 
State  of  l^orth  Carolina,  he  was  elected  by  the  General  As- 
sembly one  of  the  Counsel  of  State ;  which  station  he  filled 
•for  some  time,  not  only  with  Governor  Caswell,  but  subse- 
quently with  Governor  Alexander  Martin. 

Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  our  ancestor,  was  a  man  about 
five  feet  nine  inches  high,  very  compactly  built,  and,  when 
in  vigorous  health,  weighed  about  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
pounds.  He  possessed  uncommon  muscular  powers  and 
bodily  activity,  and  a  strength  of  constitution,  which  enabled 
him  to  bear  fatigue  and  fitted  him  for  hardships.  His  early 
education  had  been  scanty,  owing  to  his  poverty  and  the  loss 
of  his  father ;  but  his  natural  mind  was  vigorous  and  compre- 
hensive, well  fitting  and  qualifying  him  for  correct  judgment, 
for  which  he  was  conspicuous.  This  made  him  seem  to  be 
correct  by  intuition;  although  he  would  make  very  .logical 
deductions,  showing  at  the  same  time  the  possession  of  strong 
reasoning  powers.  His  buoyant  and  enterprising  spirit  al- 
ways kept  him  one  of  the  first  men  of  his  time..  This,  added 
to  his  extensive  business,  gave  him  the  great  knowledge  of 
men  and  things,  which  he  so  eminently  possessed,  and  were 
the  great  sources  of  his  general  intelligence.  Not  having  had 
the  benefit  of  a  more  early  and  liberal  education,  and  feeling 


13 


great  need  of  it,  and  particularly  for  its  concomitants,  good 
language  and  the  free  use  of  words,  he  resolved  at  a  very  early 
period  to  acquire  the  means,  and  to  give  his  sons  good  educa- 
tions. He  soon  obtained  by  his  assiduity  the  money,  but  the 
patrons  of  literature  were  so  few,  and  seminaries  of  learning 
so  scarce,  that  there  was  not  a  classical  school  in  all  this 
country  to  which  he  could  send  his  two  first  sons.  Col.  John 
and  Col.  Philemon  Hawkins.  Under  such  circumstances,  he 
concluded  to  send  them  to  Scotland,  under  the  protection  of  a 
friend;  but  Col.  John  Hawkins  was  so  nearly  grown,  and 
unwilling  to  go,  that  the  idea  was  abandoned.  When  Col. 
Benjamin  and  Col.  Joseph  Hawkins  arrived  at  the  proper 
ages,  he  sent  them  to  Princeton  College,  which  seminary  was 
at  that  time,  owing  to  the  great  want  of  intercourse,  such  as 
is  now  in  use,  by  stages  and  steamboats,  almost  as  difficult  of 
access  as  many  of  the  European  Colleges.  They  continued  at 
Princeton,  progressing  regularly  in  their  collegiate  course, 
and  were  only  prevented  from  receiving  the  honors  of  the 
College  by  the  war  of  the  Eevolution,  which  waxed  warm  at 
Princeton,  and  in  the  Jerseys,  and  suspended  the  business  of 
that  institution. 

From  the  end  of  the  Revolutionary  war  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  our  venerated  ancestor  gave  his  attention  mainly  to 
the  pursuits  of  private  life.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
from  an  early  period,  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  was  a  valuable 
member  of  the  Court  of  his  county.  His  favorite  pursuits 
from  early  life,  were  raising  stock,  cropping,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  some  regular  profitable  business;  and,  by  a  steady 
application  to  them  all,  he  acquired  great  wealth.  At  the 
opening  of  the  land  office  under  the  present  government,  hav- 
ing the  ability,  he  became  largely  interested  in  taking  up 
and  acquiring  lands,  as  well  as  all  other  property ;  he  became 
entangled  in  many  legal  difficulties  growing  out  of  the  state 
of  the  country  and  the  speculations  consequent  upon  a  change 
of  its  policy.  This  new  business,  calling  into  action  his  su- 
perior judgment,  showed  him  to  possess  an  adaptation  for  it ; 


14 


for  he  uniformly  prevailed.  This  latter  business,  and  his 
often  seeking  distant  markets  for  what  he  had  to  sell,  added 
to  his  previous  very  extensive  acquaintance,  rendered  him 
one  of  the  most  noted  men  in  this  country;  and,  what  was 
calculated  to  keep  up  his  notoriety,  his  was  a  house  of  un- 
bounded hospitality.  It  was  always  open  to  administer  to 
the  comforts  of  all.  And  here  I  may  be  permitted  to  say, 
that  no  man  ever  had  a  helpmate,  whose  general  good  sense, 
good  management,  and  superior  domestic  economy,  exceeded 
that  of  Mrs.  Delia  Hawkins,  the  wife  of  Col.  Philem-^n  Haw- 
kins, sen'r,  deceased.  They  were  both  poor  originally,  and 
had  to  resort  to  all  the  drudgery  of  labor  attending  that  con- 
dition in  life.  But,  by  their  good  conduct  and  superior  good 
sense,  the  scene  was  soon  changed,  and  as  they  travelled  on 
through  life,  increasing  in  wealth,  they  also  increased  in 
respectability  and  refinement,  till  at  length  their  house — this 
house — was  the  resort  of  the  fashionable  and  the  gay,  the 
man  of  business  and  the  literati  of  the  country.  All  found 
here  a  plentiful,  an  elegant,  and  a  sumptuous  repast.  Al- 
though Col.  Philemon  Hawkins  was  not  himself  a  man  of 
science,  his  sons  Benjamin  and  Joseph  were,  and  they  lived 
here  with  their  parents,  and  added  a  zest  to  all  that  was  agree- 
able. The  style  and  fashion  of  the  place  was  noted  and 
exemplary,  and  the  resort  to  it  from  many  parts  of  the  world 
considerable.  During  the  French  revolution  in  1792,  there 
were  many  men  of  note  from  France,  who  resorted  here  to 
enjoy  the  great  pleasure  of  conversing  in  their  own  language, 
which  Col.  Benjamin  Hawkins,  from  his  classical  knowledge 
of  it,  was  enabled  to  afford  them. 

Col.  Philemon  Hawkins,  sen'r,  deceased,  lived  up  to  the 
maxim,  that  extended  hospitality,  properly  conducted,  did 
not  conflict  hurtf  ully  with  the  true  rule  of  domestic  economy ; 
that  the  additional  supply  to  be  laid  in  for  that  object,  only 
required  an  additional  effort  to  procure  it,  which  the  com- 
pany of  friends  always  doubly  paid  him  for.  So  that  he  set 
down  these  few  additional  efforts  as  better  and  more  agree- 


15 


ably  requited  than  those  bestowed  for  the  sake  of  money  alone. 
And  as  the  human  character  seems  generally  to  he  better 
satisfied,  and  more  regaled  by  variety,  it  might  be  permitted 
to  weigh  this  maxim  and  see  if  its  analysis  proves  it  correct- 
ness. He  pursued  the  rule  of  being  generally  employed  in 
some  useful  business,  or  to  some  useful  purpose,  and  by  way 
of  innovating  upon  its  monotony,  he  would  put  forth  his 
additional  efforts  to  the  cause  of  hospitality,  by  way  of 
change,  and  agreeable  relaxation  in  the  same  pursuit.  By 
this  means,  though  the  pursuit  be  the  same,  the  object  aimed 
at  was  different,  and  that  constituted  the  pleasurable  variety. 
For  the  variety  sought  for,  is  to  the  sense,  and  if  the  same 
pursuit  produces  it,  which  in  every  other  respect  is  useful, 
it  is  more  than  safe  to  rely  upon  this  maxim.  If  this,  then, 
is  a  logical  deduction,  in  a  money  making  sense,  and  so  it 
may  be  by  keeping  off  worse  pursuits^  it  surely  should  not  be 
departed  from.  And  to  the  pleasure  and  reciprocal  advan- 
tage afforded  by  the  practice  of  hospitality,  is  to  be  added 
the  sum  of  advantage  to  those  upon  whom  it  is  bestowed. 

This  house,  once  animated  by  the  presence  of  our  venerated 
ancestors,  anft  once  the  seat  of  pleasure,  of  gradeur  and  of 
science,  has  undergone  by  the  work  of  time  a  great  change; 
and  what  is  there  upon  which  time  will  not  leave  its  stamp  ? 
For  many  years  it  has  been  almost  deserted,  and  for  a  long 
time  in  a  state  of  dilapidation;  and  could  the  spirit  of  the 
dead  look  back  upon  that  earthly  tabernacle  which  was  occu- 
pied in  life,  surely  the  spectacle  to  our  ancestors  must  have 
presented  a  sad  contrast.  But  the  day  of  resurrection  for 
this  spacious  old  mansion  is  at  hand.  Our  venerable  host  has 
decreed  it  to  be  so.  Ere  long  the  extensive  repairs  already 
begun,  and  which  are  far  advanced,  will  be  completed,  when 
it  will  present  again  its  ancient  appearance,  somewhat  modi- 
fied, and  somewhat  improved.  And ,  one  great  incentive  to 
this  work  arises  from  the  holy  feeling  of  reverential  regard 
for  its  ancient  owners;  and  that  appearances  should  be  re- 
vived here  as  a  tribute  to  their  memory.     The  example  thus 


16 


set  of  reverence  to  parents,  if  followed,  will  never  fail  to  en- 
kindle and  to  keep  alive  those  finer  feelings  of  thp  soul,  which 
ennoble  our  character  and  our  nature,  and  have  been  valued 
in  all  ages  as  virtuous  testimony  of  grateful  benevolence. 
History  records  it  as  great  virtue  in  Epaminondas,  that  it 
the  celebrated  Battle  of  Leuctra,  where  he  gained  unfading 
laurels  as  a  General,  upon  being  felicitated  for  the  reno^^^l 
he  had  won,  he  showed  his  greatest  pleasure  consisted  in 
the  pleasure  his  parents  would  enjoy  at  his  victory. 

This  day  one  hundred  and  twelve  years  ago.  Col.  Philemon 
Hawkins,  sen.,  deceased,  was  born,  and  he  died  on  the  10th 
day  of  September,  1801,  having  lived  nearly  eighty  four 
years.  He  has  now  been  dead  upwards  of  twenty-eight  years, 
and  notwithstanding  the  long  time  which  has  rolled  on  since 
his  death,  his  appearance  is  still  fresh  in  the  recollection  of 
many  of  us;  and  his  manly  perseverance,  his  steady  habits 
of  useful  industry,  his  systematic  arrangement  of  his  busi- 
ness and  his  time,  his  contempt  for  idleness  and  dissipation, 
will,  it  is  earnestly  hoped,  never  be  forgotten  by  us.  He  was 
a  great  friend  to  schools.  Not  having  had  himself  the  benefits 
of  a  liberal,  scientific  education,  but  possessing  in  an  emi- 
nent degree  all  that  practical  good  sense  which  could  estimate 
the  worth  of  it,  he  was  their  liberal  patron.  He  was  a  strong 
advocate  for  internal  improvements.  His  comprehensive 
mind  pioneered  him  through  the  ways  which  are  now  fol- 
lowed, though  slowly,  to  advance  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  in  the  way  of  its  improvement.  He  had  himself 
struggled  through  the  wilderness,  had  seen  the  face  of  the 
country  gradually  improve,  and  he  regretted  much  that  all 
his  influence  could  achieve  was  to  open  new  roads,  from 
whence  great  benefit  was  derived. 

When  we  take  a  review  of  his  rise  and  progress  in  life,  and 
contrast  them  with  the  idleness  and  dissipation  of  the  present 
day,  we  are  ready  to  exclaim,  that  degeneracy  is  surely  among 
us.  He  lived  within  his  income,  and  caused  it  continually  to 
increase ;   by  which  he  was  not  only  increasing  his  ability  to 


17 


live,  but  to  increase  his  fortune,  and  to  add  to  his  power  to  be 
useful.  Accustomed  to  labor  in  early  life,  laudable  industry 
was  viewed  by  him  as  a  great  virtue,  and  as  the  road  to  honor 
and  usefulness ;  and  he  who  practiced  it,  was  much  exalted 
in  his  estimation.  He  always  looked  back  to  the  days  of  his 
early  life  with  pleasing  reminiscences,  and  the  most  grateful 
feelings  to  the  giver  of  all  good  for  having  inspired  him  with 
the  resolution,  and  given  him  the  ability  and  the  aptitude  for 
labor  and  industrious  enterprise,  by  which  he  had  been  able 
to  throw  off  the  shackles  of  poverty,  and  to  acquire  an  ample 
fortune  to  raise  and  to  sustain  his  family  and  himself  in  his 
old  age.  If  a  similar  course  was  now  pursued,  much  happier 
indeed  would  be  the  condition  of  this  country.  Let  us  then 
emulate  his  virtues,  and  inculcate  his  habits,  and  instill  into 
the  minds  of  our  children  the  examples  of  his  prosperous  and 
useful  life ;  and  wdien  each  rolling  year  shall  bring  around 
the  day  of  his  birth,  let  us  hail  it  as  his  natal  day,  and  en- 
deavor to  imprint  it  deejier  and  deeper  in  their  hearts. 


